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It is summer time, the time for vacations on the sea coast! Do not forget to take a sunscreen with you! Sunscreens help to protect your skin from sun’s hazardous ultraviolet (UV) rays. There are two types of sunsreen:
1. sunscreens that absorb the UV rays before they reach your skin;
2. sunscreens that disperse the light and reflect it away from your skin.

Several years ago choosing sunscreen was limited to searching for one with an appropriate SPF (sun protection factor) which refers to blockage of UVB (ultraviolet B) rays. The higher the number is, the higher the protection. UVB rays are dangerous as they cause cancer. Also there are UVA rays, which do not cause sunburn but also increase risks for cancer. UVA rays do enter deeply in the skin and cause wrinkles. Yeah, they cause wrinkles…. Moreover, studies found that 90% of aging changes in skin occur due to exposure to UVA rays.

Now you understand that your sunscreen should protect you from both UVB and UVA rays! In order to protect your skin from UVB rays, pay attention to SPF numbers.

Let us take a sunburn with SPF 15. If you usually burn in 10 minutes, SPF 15 multiplies that by a factor of 15, meaning you stay under the sun for 150 minutes before burning. For the majority of people SPF 15 is ok, but people with a very pale skin should use SPF 30 or higher. However, SPF 30 does not mean two times better protection than SPF 15, because SPF 30 filters out 97% of UVB and SPF 15 filters out 93%. Not a big difference.

In order to protect your skin from UVA rays your sunscreen should have at least one of next ingredients:
1. ecamsule, which blocks UVA. It was recently approved and is expensive;
2. titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are known for a long time and are cheap;
5. avobenzone;
4. oxybenzone;;
5. sulisobenzone;.

Water resistent or not? You should know that water-resistent sunscreens keep their SPF level after 40 minutes in the water. Suncreens are not water-proof and you will need to reapply it regularly.

Each month on shelves of cosmetic stores do appear several new BB-creams. Moreover, Dior has released bb-cream for eye area and L’Oreal Paris has released concealer, powder and blush — all with prefix bb. In the meantime, beauty brands continue to explore other letters of the alphabet. Meet CC-creams.

Before familiarizing with CC-creams let us remember features of famous BB-creams. He is multifunctional — one cream should replace 7 products: foundation, moisturizer, sun protection cream, anti-acne treatment, anti-wrinkles cream, primer, and corrector. BB-cream was accepted by women with a great enthusiasm and now specialists are working over a new cream that is going to be much better.

The abbreviation CC stands for several meanings: Complete Correction and Color Control (most common one). Like BB-cream, CC-cream came from Asia where it was launched in 2011 by Rachel K, a cosmetic company from Singapure. That cream was Mineral CC Cream and it conquered the Asians with high contents of botanical extracts and shade thus opening the way for the new trend.

So what is CC-cream?
CC-cream is an improved version of BB-cream. CC-cream contains less oils and therefore it has a light texture. It improves much better visusl lining of color and skin relief. It makes possible to apply cream on eye area for both covering and care.Besides this, CC-cream provides radiance and matte finish of T-zone. The cream provides persistence and therefore there is no need to use powder to fix make up. The cream contains more moisturizing, anti-aging and other helpful components. As with BB-creams, CC-creams have a modest range of colors — two or three shades. The ability to adapt to skin shade is greatly improved.

The summer is coming and the problem of body acne becomes more actual these days as we go to the beaches and swimming pools in this period of time. Let us make a little research of the problem.

What is body acne?
Like face acne, body acne is also a delicate topic to discuss. The problem is very common in people and the main cause of its appearing are clogged pores. Pores on face and the body become clogged with excess oil, dead skin and bacteria. Specialists say that appearing of acne on back and chest is not connected to hormonal problems like that on the face. Pores on the body are bigger than those on the face and therefore it is more difficult to treat and prevent them. The skin on the body is thicker, so acne on back or other places can leave serious scars.

How to treat body acne?
1. Salicylic acid helps greatly to fight acne on the body. Use it once every day after shower. You may find it in any pharmacy.
2. African Black Soap is wonderful product for body wash, especially when you use organic one. I buy it at iherb.com. I choose this product of Nubian Heritage. It is really cool and smells good!
3. Tea tree oil is famous for its antibacterial properties and it helps to prevent and treat acne both on the face and on the body. You may use tea tree oil itself or look for soaps or body washes which contain it. There so many products with tea tree that I even would not recommend anything. They are really too many 😉

How to prevent body acne?
Follow the next recommendations:
1. It is necessaty to practise proper hygiene and take shower as soon as you may because dirt would clog pores.
2. Exfoliate skin several times a week and it is better to use a mild exfoliant. Treat your back the same as you treat your face!
3. Change body puff as frequently as possible because it collects bacteria.

Today BB creams make a revolution in makeups and facial care. This innovation product combines best properties of a foundation and creams, but it is not a foundation or cream itself. Six properties of a BB cream:
– moisturizing
– nourishment
– primer
– corrector
– sun protection
– whitening

Earlier you worried that foundation clogs up pores but with BB cream you do not have to worry about it. BB cream not only conceals skin blemishes but treats it. When used regularly, unique composition of BB creams helps to treat acne and prevent appearing of skin problems.

Most unusual and unique property of BB creams is their ability to ideally adjust to skin tone, therefore you should not worry about cream tone that may not suit your skin tone. With a BB cream your skin looks so natural that no one may even suppose that you have applied something on your face.

First BB cream was invented in Germany and initially it was used to help restore tissues after laser plastic operations on face. Its properties to camouflage scars and reddenings was just amazing. The trend quickly spread in Asia and then in Europe and the USA.

Though today practically all cosmetics brands worldwide have BB creams in their products lines, best BB creams are made in Asia. Such brands as Missha, Skin79, Hanskin are best brands that produce BB creams.

Where to buy BB cream?
I buy BB creams at sasa.com, an Asian web site with large assortment of Asian brands. What I like is that they do sell not only BB creams but many other products for hair care, facial care. I am satisfied with their products, prices, service and delivery terms. If you know other sites with large aasortment of BB creams, please feel free to write about it in comments!